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POLITICO 44

California-based political funnyman Will Durst is making his way to Washington for two shows at the DC Improv Aug. 7 and 8. His show, “Lieutenant Governor From the State of Confusion,” will poke fun at the rotating cast of characters in what he calls “the company town.”

“There are so many themes: the economy, Barack and health care. I’ll try to be as apropos as the headlines,” he says. “I’m touching on pirates, [Rod] Blagojevich, Iran and Sarah Palin — the gift that keeps on giving.”

Without President George W. Bush in the White House, Durst admits that he may be at a loss for material. Bush, however, is still useful as a comparison with President Obama. “Some people say he’s arrogant, but at least he’s smart. We tried arrogant and stupid, and that didn’t work out very well,” Durst says.

With Durst in town, the newly minted Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) won’t be the only one to have crossed the line between comedy and politics. More than 20 years before Franken’s battle for Minnesota’s Senate seat, Durst ran for San Francisco’s mayoral office. He came in fourth place with a whopping 2 percent of the vote.

Durst says that, unlike Franken, he was never a serious candidate. “I guess it was a stunt, not a joke,” he says. “I had a legitimate platform. Some of my floated policies were ripped off by other candidates.”

Of Franken, he says: “I’m very glad he won, because now we have 100 senators who are comedians.”

Yes, the supposed most inarticulate and 'stupid' president in our history had saddled us with a debt of $450+ B over 8 years, while the supposed most articulate and 'smart' president has just tripled that debt in less than 6 months, as well as saddling our progeny with an $11T to $17T debt over the coming years. Snakeoil and arrogance anyone? It's clear Hollywood went for it, as well as several others.